The saga continues...

I called this morning about the Celtic Ball, and she said Abby could come--Karen graciously offered to pick her up for practice, take her out for dinner before with Carrie and maybe Adam, and take them to the dance. I offered Jeff to pick them up--nice of me right?--since Karen doesn't like to stay up late, and we needed to help out in some way--and Jeff doesn't mind going out later. So that's taken care of--except finding a babysitter or two for small group, but Abby is talking to Kayla about that.

I forgot to tell you my funny (Dave Ramsey-inspired) story from last night at the basketball game. Actually, I should probably give the credit to Jeff because he would totally have done the same thing long before we heard of DR. Anyway, Amy had said we would have to pay to get into the game even if we were just coming to watch the girls dance. But when I went up to the ladies, I said, "Now, I need to pay even if I'm just here to watch my daughter dance at halftime, right?" The one looked at the other and said, "I don't know...what do you think?" I could tell she didn't really want to make me pay. The other said, "We made everyone else (at which point I started to get out my wallet and say OK)...so just don't TELL anyone, OK? We'll come and find you if you do!" (We goin' find you, we goin' find you! So don't you run and tell that, run and tell that!--I didn't realize they were so ghetto in Woodridge!) So I got in for free, and then another mom came in later and sat with me and said, "It's a bummer to have to pay to just come to watch the girls, isn't it?" I said, "Yeah, it is..." I wasn't going to take any chances!!

Abby did a great job too, by the way, in case I didn't mention that last night. I kind of forget that this is her first year in jazz--she does it so well!

So, this morning I had to scurry (that seemed to be a lot of kids' spelling word yesterday at UV--I answered a few questions about what it meant.) to get everything done before I had to leave. I sent an email to all of the parents of kids in the physical science class because I wanted them to know what I was going to talk to their kids about today so there wouldn't be any confusion. What I was expecting, how to get full credit for assignments and problems, how I was going to give them a chance to re-do what they were supposed to be handing in today if they felt it wasn't their best work, and they could hand it in next week, etc. And to reassure them that if their student isn't in high school, that this is very challenging material, and they should just do their best and not worry about the grade--just try to learn as much as they can. They'll get it again in high school. Very teachery of me.

I don't know what the kids thought of my little talk, but I tried to communicate what was expected so that there wasn't any confusion about that--by now they should know, but it doesn't seem like they do. I guess I kind of go with the idea that they don't KNOW it until they DO it. And I hope they saw my little reprieve as just that--an opportunity to make SURE their work was complete. I know if I were them, that I would have kept it and just checked it over once more to be sure and handed it in next week.

I'm trying, but I know I'm not the best science teacher. I didn't feel like I had enough time to prepare, and some of the concepts were hard for me to explain--like centripetal force--in ways that they can fully grasp--mainly because I'm not sure I fully grasp it myself. We did a good experiment, but it took a long time, so I didn't get through everything I had planned. Well, there's always next week to review, and in the meantime, maybe I can think of some other ways to say the same things. Thankfully, Karen has good powerpoints, but like I told Abby, sometimes I think they just hear words, but the concepts don't sink in.

After school, we went to the library, to the bank, and to GE, then home to unload everything--which is a LOT on Wed.--and then, I went for a walk, had a QT, and Jeff came home to take Abby to her new Bible study at GVUMC. I was going to make grilled cheese for dinner because I ran out of time to cook, and I was too tired to start anything big. He suggested getting something out, so he's picking up Subway after dropping off Abby at church and a book at the Eaton's. That will be very nice. And now I have time to blog as a result.

I got two new books at the library that I had put on hold. One is The Element--about finding your passion. The other is called The Brazen Careerist--suggested by the Debt Free U guy about new ways to look at careers. I'm excited to read them and may start tonight as Jeff has to work on his sermon for Sunday. Mike, Annette, and Alan leave for their mission trip to Honduras on Saturday! Very exciting!

I have school stuff I could/should be doing, but I also am tired, and I am trying to listen to myself when I feel like I need a break from work. I can still do productive things, but it helps to do something different sometimes. Tomorrow morning Abby is having another driving lesson, so I will work on school then.

Hannah is planning to come home this weekend! Yay! I am planning to have Friday night be just low-key and relaxing because I think we could all use that. Then we'll probably have the Karen girls over for the late morning/early afternoon before small group. They don't have school on Friday or Monday, so they wanted to do a sleepover, but EDD is going to a concert with UV on Friday, so that means we can just do Saturday which is better I think. We have school on Monday too, so that eliminates Sunday night.

Really, the title of my post would make you think that there was some more drama that occurred today, but mostly I was just following up on stories from yesterday that were to be continued. Nothing too dramatic--thankfully!

I had a dream last night that I was sitting with Hannah, Katie, and Abby all smooshed together on a couch watching a movie or something, and it made me miss having everyone all together. I'm looking forward to being all smooshed together again soon!

The EHS book chapter that I'm reading is talking about knowing ourselves so that we can know God better--dealing with emotions in a positive way--acknowledging them and not trying to stuff them all down and ignore them. Talking honestly to God and allowing Him to heal, change, comfort all of those emotions we have. It is sad to think that many people think that because they are Christians, they shouldn't feel the full range of emotions--only happy, happy, good, good. That just isn't realistic in this world we live in. Journaling is a wonderful thing for dealing with emotions with God. I've said for years that it's a great form of "cheap counseling." It just takes time and sometimes that is hard to come by--enough to really think, feel, and then work through things. But it's always worth it!

So, Jeff should be home soon with dinner, and I should probably turn on some lights around here. When I sat down, it was still fairly light, and now it's getting very dark! But it was lovely today! Much warmer--probably in the 50's though our thermometer said 60 at one point--and it's supposed to be even warmer tomorrow! Yay! I walked in a lighter coat, with only a scarf and no gloves or earmuffs! It gives one hope!

So, until later, dear readers!